Fr. Jean-Luc reflects on his Trip to World Youth Day in Brazil
Fr. Jean-Luc (holding the American Flag), students from St. Vincent College and youth from Brazil celebrate at World Youth Day
My life as a Benedictine Monk of Saint Vincent Archabbey is never dull. Our Archabbey's apostolates, the work that we do, are varied. My work in Campus Ministry with students of Saint Vincent College took me to Brazil for World Youth Day. We prayed the Stations of the Cross and attended Mass offered by our Holy Father Pope Francis. Also, we had the opportunity to meet Catholic young people from all over the world. Benedictine monks have for centuries played an important role in the work of evangelization through founding educational institutions. Our monks are so blessed to be sharing in the New Evangelization!
From the Rule of St. Benedict: Chapter 20 (Reverence in Prayer)
When we wish to suggest our wants to persons of high station, we do not presume to do so
except with humility and reverence. How much the more, then, are complete humility and pure devotion necessary in supplication of the Lord who is God of the universe! And let us be assured that it is not in saying a great deal that we shall be heard (Matt 6:7), but in purity of heart and in tears of compunction. Our prayer, therefore, ought to be short and pure, unless it happens to be prolonged by an inspiration of divine grace. In community, however, let prayer be very short, and when the Superior gives the signal let all rise together.
Reflection on Chapter
20
In Chapter 20, St. Benedict’s instruction on “Reverence in
Prayer” requires us to have certain dispositions: humility, devotion, purity of
heart, and tears of compunction.
Firstly, when we pray to God, we must approach Him with “humility” and
“devotion” because this is how God first approached us; in “humility” God took
on flesh and became man, and in “devotion” to us He poured out His life for the
sake of our Salvation. Therefore, in
“humility” we approach God as one who is redeemed at His cost, and in
“devotion” we offer ourselves wholly to Him as one who seeks to do His
Will.
Secondly, God does not judge our prayers by their many words,
but by our “purity of heart and tears of compunction”. Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure of heart,
for they shall see God” (Mt 5:8). When
man is blinded by worldly desire, he cannot “see God,” but when man’s heart
solely desires God, he approaches God with the reverence due to Him alone.
Finally, reverence in prayer requires “tears of compunction”. Tears indicate that we have been touched by
Grace. Therefore, they are both tears of
sorrow for our sins and tears of joy for the salvation that has been won for
us!
In order to respond to the call of God and start on our journey, it is not necessary to be already perfect. We know that the prodigal son’s awareness
of his own sin allowed him to set out on his return journey and thus feel the joy of reconciliation with the Father. Weaknesses and human limitations do not present an obstacle, as long as they help make us more aware of the fact that we are in need of the redeeming grace of Christ. This is the experience of St Paul who confessed: “I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2Cor 12,9). In the mystery of the Church, the mystical Body of Christ, the divine power of love changes the heart of man, making him able to communicate the love of God to his brothers and sisters. Throughout the centuries many men and women, transformed by divine love, have consecrated their lives to the cause of the Kingdom. Already on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, many allowed themselves to be won by Jesus: they were in search of healing in body or spirit, and they were touched by the power of his grace. Others were chosen personally by Him and became his apostles. We also find some, like Mary Magdalene and others, who followed him on their own initiative, simply out of love. Like the disciple John, they too found a special place in his heart. These men and women, who knew the mystery of the love of the Father through Jesus, represent the variety of vocations which have always been present in the Church. The model of one called to give witness in a particular manner to the love of God, is Mary, the Mother of Jesus, who in her pilgrimage of faith is directly associated with the mystery of the Incarnation and Redemption. To Read the Holy Father's entire message: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/messages/vocations/documents/hf_ben-xvi_mes_20060305_xliii-vocations_en.html
This photo of the Archabbey Basilica was taken at Sunset by Br. Max.
The life of a Monk is about cultivating an interior silence, for the land of silence is our means of surrender. The peacefulness, stillness and silence captured in this photograph reminds me of a passage from Into the Silent Land by Martin Laird:
St. John of the Cross said, "Our greatest need is to be silent before this Great God, ... for the only language he hears is the silent language of love". Silence is an urgent necessity for us; silence is necessary if we are to hear God speaking in eternal silence; our own silence is necessary if God is to hear us. Silence is necessary because, as Maggie Ross boldly puts it, "Salvation is about silence."
Here is a
translation of Pope Francis’ address to the participants of the meeting on
Saturday with seminarians, novices and young people on their vocation path who
took part in the Year of Faith pilgrimage entitled “I Trust in You”.
And here I
would like to stress the importance, in community life, of the relations of
friendship and fraternity that are an integral part of this formation. Here we
arrive at another problem. Why do I talk about relations of friendship and
fraternity? So many times I’ve found communities, seminarians, Religious or
diocesan communities where the most common short prayer is gossip! It’s
terrible! They “skin” one another … And this is our clerical, religious world
…Excuse me, but it’s common: jealousy, envy, to speak badly of another. Not
just speaking badly of superiors, this is classic! But I tell you that this is
so common, so common. I have also fallen into this. I’ve done it so many times,
so many times! And I’m ashamed! I’m ashamed of this! It’s not right to do so:
to go and gossip. “Have you heard … Have you heard …” But such a community is a
hell! This does no good. And because of this, the relation of friendship and of
fraternity is
important. Friends are few. The Bible says this: friends, one,
two … But fraternity among all. If I have something against a sister or a
brother, I say it to her/his face, or I say it to her or him who can help, but
I don’t say it to others to “soil” him/her. And gossip is terrible! Behind
gossip, under gossip, there are envies, jealousies, ambitions. Think of this.
Once after spiritual exercises I heard a person – a consecrated person, a nun …
This is good! This nun had promised the Lord that she would never speak badly
again of another. This is a beautiful, a beautiful path to holiness! Not to
speak badly of others. “But, Father, there are problems …”: tell them to the
superior, to the bishop, who can remedy it. But do not tell it to him who can’t
help. Fraternity: this is important! But tell me, would you speak badly
of your mother, of your father, of your siblings? Never. And why do you do so
in consecrated life, in the seminary, in the presbyterial life? This alone:
think of it, think of it … Fraternity! This fraternal love.
However,
there are two extremes in this aspect of friendship and fraternity, two
extremes: both isolation as well as dissipation. A friendship and a fraternity
that will help me not to fall into isolation or dissipation. Cultivate friendships,
they are a precious good: however, they must educate you not to shut yourselves
in but to go out of yourselves. A priest, a man religious, a woman religious
can never be an island, but must always be a person ready for encounter.
Friendships the are also enriched by the different charisms of your
Religious Families. It’s a great richness. We think of the beautiful
friendships of so many Saints.
I think I
must make some cuts, because your patience is great!
[Seminarians:
“Noooo!”]
I would
like to say to you: go out of yourselves to proclaim the Gospel, but to do this
you must go out of yourselves to encounter Jesus. There are two ways out:
one towards the encounter with Jesus, towards transcendence; the other
towards others to proclaim Jesus. These two go together. If you just do one,
it’s no good. I think of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. This nun was good
… She
wasn’t afraid of anything, she went out on the streets … But this woman was
also not afraid to kneel down, for two hours, before the Lord. Don’t be afraid
to go out of yourselves in prayer and in pastoral action. Be courageous in
praying and in going to proclaim the Gospel.
I would
like a more missionary Church, one that is not so tranquil. A beautiful Church
that goes forward. Over these days so many men and women missionaries have come
to the morning Mass, here at Saint Martha’s, and when they greeted me, they’ve
said: “But I’m an elderly nun, I’ve been in the Ciad for forty years, I’ve been
here and there …” How beautiful! But have you understood that this nun passed
these years like this, because she never ceased to encounter Jesus in prayer.
It is necessary to go out of oneself, towards transcendence to Jesus in prayer,
towards the transcendence of others in the apostolate, in work. Make your contribution
to a Church such as this: faithful to the way that Jesus desires. Don’t learn
from us, from us who are no longer very young; don’t learn from us that sport
that we, the elderly, often engage in: the sport of lament! Don’t learn from us
the cult of the complaining goddess.” She is a goddess that is always
lamenting. But be positive, cultivate the spiritual life and at the same time,
go out, be able to meet people, especially those most scorned and
disadvantaged. Don’t be afraid to go against the current. Be contemplatives and
missionaries. Have Our Lady always with you, pray the Rosary, please … Don’t
abandon it! Always have Our Lady with you in your home, as the Apostle John had
her. May she always accompany you and protect you. And pray also for me,
because I am also in need of prayer, because I’m a poor sinner, but we go
forward.
Thank you
so much and we will see one another tomorrow. And go forward with joy, with
coherence, always with the courage to tell the truth, the courage to go out of
oneself to meet Jesus in prayer and to go out of oneself to meet others and
give them the Gospel, with pastoral fruitfulness! Please don’t be “spinsters”
and “bachelors.” Go forward!
Now
Archbishop Fisichella said that yesterday you recited the Creed, each one in
his/her own language. However, we are all brothers, we have the same Father.
Now, each one in his/her language, recite the Our Father. Let us recite the Our
Father.
[Recitation
of the Our Father]
And we
also have a Mother. In our own language we say the Hail Mary.
